Love the transparency.And if they hadn't announced Metroid Prime 4 when they did, we may have never known about some of the things we learned here, or things to come.

This makes you wonder if Retro Studio's other game (rumored to be Star Fox racing) is already finished though.

Pavolink said:

Nuvendil said:

My guess is fundamental design. Metroid Prime is a very particular kind of beast. The new dev might have struggled with it, making it too linear, too story driven, too action oriented, or too obtuse. All these things spring to mind.

That’s my guess too. Once they analyzed, maybe it was easier to reboot than try to fix it.

FloatingWaffles said:

Oh WOW, was not expecting to read this when I checked the site today lmao.... so many different thoughts about this

1) People were already wondering about if Metroid Prime 4 was gonna be a 2019 or 2020 title, but now this probably pushes it to 2021 at earliest, maybe even 2022.

2) What on earth could have happened during development or what state was the game in that was so bad that a COMPLETE restart was needed? I know the rumor was that it was Bandai Namco Singapore or whatever but damn

3) The fact that Retro Studios is working on this now leads me to believe that whatever project they have been working on for the past few years (the rumored Star Fox Grand Prix) is finally close to release thus giving them time to do this now so FUCKING SHOW IT TO ME ALREADY pls.

4) Props to Nintendo for making the right call here, even if it means it will be a few more years longer now before it's released, but it should be worth it in the end. Insert Miyamoto delayed game quote here.

Bofferbrauer2 said:

Pavolink said:

Btw, what could cause a development reboot? I find that decision pretty drastic.

If it was just graphics, they could focus on it, but this sounds more than that. Bad fundamentals of the game? Engine not working? Full of bugs?

Bolded, as that's what I got from the video. And yeah, if the fundament is shit, don't try to built something on top of it as it can only become shit, too

There's actually an article featuring excerpts from a book about how the development of Resident Evil 2 was scrapped, and how they started over with a new team that brought forth people like Hideki Kamiya in the process, and turned Resident Evil 2 into one of Capcom's most successful and beloved games.

Currently Playing:

Ouch. Even though I'm not a Metroid fan, that stung. I can only sympathize with what Metroid fans are feeling.

While this sucks to hear, at least Nintendo was honest with us and they are demonstrating that making this game the best it can possibly be is a top priority for them, which is something I think Metroid fans can find solace and comfort in.

Seriously, I can't see Nintendo keeping the game solely on the Switch six years into its lifespan. It's most likely going to be a multi-generational game like Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess whether people like it or not and I can't fault Nintendo for it. This also explains why Retro ramped up their hiring efforts recently.

Seriously, I can't see Nintendo keeping the game solely on the Switch six years into its lifespan. It's most likely going to be a multi-generational game like Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess whether people like it or not and I can't fault Nintendo for it. This also explains why Retro ramped up their hiring efforts recently.

I think they've already got the next game/sequel with the Breath of the Wild formula penciled in for that slot given how wonderfully it worked out for them with that game and Twilight Princess. The very best fans could hope for is that the game will be ready to go by 2021. If not, then I think the best option for Nintendo would be to pull a GTA V where they release the game as their big Switch holiday title for 2022 and then port it a year later to Switch 2 to extend its legs and give it a better chance to sell more copies.

Currently Playing:

What the hell has Retro been doing these past 5 years between Tropical Freeze and now?
Since they'll be mostly/all in on Prime 4 moving forward, whatever they were working on is either done, near completion, or got scrapped.

Currently Playing:

I know that this is an example of a good treatment of the franchise by Nintendo, but I can't help but have flashbacks to that hilarious thread where the OP went on to blame all Metroid fans and didn't give Nintendo an ounce of criticism at their treatment of the series, acting as if they have never mishandled the IP before. It's especially ironic now that the one thing Metroid fans had to look forward to is now basically delayed another few years after already having to wait an eternity.

That being said, I think this is good news all in all. It does make me a bit worried in some ways. For example, because Nintendo probably spent so much money on the previous version of the game already, will the budget of this new version be restricted? Does Retro Studios still hold on to the same staff members that made the original trilogy so great? Will this ultimately accumulate to an entry which is "more of the same, but in HD" and doesn't take risks with the Prime formula?

But honestly, the fact that Nintendo was so sincere and direct, and even made a video about it(!), makes me more optimistic than I already was after the original version had been in development for years. I'm actually more excited at this new version than the prior one, if Nintendo's standards are that high.